Sari P. Setiogi

Sari P. Setiogi
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The government unveiled on Friday its new strategy to boost
Internet use in the country, but admitted that it would be
impossible for Indonesia to meet the targets set at the recent
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The WSIS, the first global conference on the Internet, which
was held in Geneva in December, set targets that include ensuring
that over 50 percent of the citizens in each country should have
access to the Internet by 2015.

"At the moment, only about 1 percent of Indonesia's population
has access to the Internet. It will be impossible to increase
this figure by fifty-fold in a little over 10 years," State
Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif told
reporters on Friday.

Internet kiosks could play a pivotal role in promoting the use
of the Internet among Indonesians, many of whom are still
struggling to supply their basic needs, such as food and housing.

But, Syamsul said he did not have any great expectations that
Internet cafes would appear all over the country as "as it is not
yet a profitable business."

One of the government's strategies is to introduce information
technology at the early stages of education through the "One
school, one computer laboratory (OSOL)" program, which is
currently in gestation.

"We are now approaching the private sector to provide cheap
computers for between Rp 1.5 million (about US$180) and Rp 2
million per unit for schools across the country," said Syamsul.

"Microsoft has agreed to provide software at $2.5 per unit, as
against the normal price of about US$200," said the minister.

He also hoped that cheap software could be provided to
Internet kiosks so as to promote Internet use.

Other targets set during the Geneva summit were that all
citizens should have access to television and radio, and all
governments have an online system of administration (e-
government) by 2015.

"Without a good strategy, it will be difficult for us to reach
the targets. For that, the government, together with the private
sector and civil society, should formulate an e-strategy at the
national level," said Syamsul.

He also said that Indonesia needed to have a law on the
statute books governing all aspects related to information
technology, including cybercrime, as part of the effort to
promote the wider use of the Internet among the public.

The WSIS is a world forum organized by the United Nations
together with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The forum is committed to narrowing the gap between developing
and developed countries, and between rich countries and poor
countries in the use of Internet.

The next Internet summit will be held in Tunis next year.